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U16NL victorious against North Herts Knights

U16NL victorious against North Herts Knights

Abingdon Eagles10 Dec 2018 - 16:13
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while U14s fought hard vs Luton and our men put on a good show vs MK Trojans

Let's start with the U16s who are second in the League behind an unbeaten Luton team.

Coach Andy sums up the game. "The U16 NL team played away against North Herts Knights on Saturday. The first quarter was quite tight with neither team dominating, but the Eagles just edged it 24-17. In the second quarter the Eagles got more in to their rhythm with some good offensive passing and finishing, with the score at the end of the half 39-27 to the Eagles.
The third quarter was high scoring for both teams. The Eagles favoured 1-3-1 defence had to be changed to contain the Knights but at the other end the Eagles made the most of each attack with the score at the end of the quarter 66-47 to the Eagles. The fourth quarter was all Eagles. Knights scored only 2 points in the quarter whilst the Eagles scored 21 to win the game 87-49.

The coaches were very pleased with the Eagles play at times. There were some excellent cuts by Harry which led to baskets. Sam Cheshire and Joe C linked very well giving each other opportunities to score. Sam H's drag back and outside shot in the 4th was excellent. Defensively Ruben and Joe were strong at the back and Alex boxed out very well when necessary. Dillon played to his usual high tempo despite feeling under the weather.
This game was a good opportunity for the younger players to get some court time and they acquitted themselves well alongside the more experienced players.

Next week the Eagles play the final game of 2018 at home to Bucks Hornets in a much anticipated game. We hope to see you there!"

The men and the U14s played on Sunday and Coach Phil reported after the Luton game: "The U14s travelled to Luton knowing it would be a tough game following Luton's recent improved results. Despite being a little stop start due to the number of fouls called during the first period, the game did not disappoint. Luton played tough defence closing the key making it difficult for us to get to the basket. Harry did well and had the most success getting to the hoop as both teams traded baskets. Eagles took the lead 17-16 with 8 seconds left of the period only for Luton to score on the buzzer and take a 1 point lead. A highlight of the second period was the continued strong defence played by Oli, who had an excellent game. However, despite some good driving from Nico and a 3 pointer from Harry, not enough of our shots were dropping as 3 baskets late in the quarter gave Luton an 8 point lead.

With the referees saying at half time it was acceptable for Luton to play with 3 players in the key on defence we continued to struggle to break them down and get to the basket. With outside shots continuing to not fall, Luton edged further ahead 60-46 at the end of the 3rd. Three made 3 point shots, with Lorenzo scoring again from behind the arc, kept the pressure on Luton but was not enough for us to get the win, final score 59-71.

In many ways this was the most frustrating game of the season, with things not quite clicking on offence and better help defence needing to be played. However, there were some very good performances, particularly from Harry, Nico and Oli. It was also good to have one of the referees speak to me at the end and say what a great group of boys they are and that they are a credit to the club." Well done boys!

And our men played a delayed game as the Trojans were late due to traffic!
They posted a loss 40-70 but really good game from the team who hard fought till the end.

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